Recapping every trade from the 2014-15 D-League season
Here we are, in the dog days of the NBA and D-League offseason. Since I’m a glutton for punishment, I decided to check out every single trade from the 2014-15 season for your viewing pleasure.
Some of these trades were mere blips on the radar, some had a lasting impact on the season and even more are hard to examine fully due to future trades.
One thing to keep in mind as you peruse these moves: The draft is not where championship teams are made in the D-League. Only seven of the first 18 picks finished the season on a D-League team, and Elliot Williams was the only difference maker selected by the Santa Cruz Warriors.
NOTE: All trades are two-team trades unless noted otherwise.
October 17, 2014
Santa Cruz Warriors acquire: 2015 1st round pick & returning player rights to Scott Suggs
Erie BayHawks acquire: Returning player rights to Seth Curry
Take: The Warriors gave up Seth Curry and still won the D-League Championship — not fair! Add on the first round pick in the 2015 draft and the returning rights (RR) to Suggs and it’s a landslide victory for the SeaDubs!
October 23, 2014
Reno Bighorns acquire: Returning right to Durrell Summers
Idaho Stampede acquire: 2014 5th round pick (Nick Covington) & 2015 5th round pick
Take: Wash. Both players were eventually waived mid-season by their teams.
Oklahoma City Blue acquire: 2015 3rd round pick
Idaho Stampede acquire: 2014 3rd round pick (Kodi Augustus)
Take: Leaning toward OKC — Augustus played less than a month before Idaho waived him.
Oklahoma City Blue acquire: 2015 2nd round pick
Iowa Energy acquire: 2014 3rd round pick (Mike McCall)
Take: Blue win. Higher pick this upcoming season and McCall averaged 3.0 points per game
October 31, 2014
Austin Spurs acquire: Jarell Eddie
Fort Wayne Mad Ants acquire: Myck Kabongo & 2014 2nd round pick (Andre Emmett)
Take: Toughest one so far, but I’ll give FW the edge based on the Emmett selection with the pick they obtained. Emmett was the league MVP before leaving the Mad Ants in search of an NBA or International deal. Eddie wasn’t chopped liver, though, as he won the 3-point shootout and earned a call-up to the Hawks on a 10-day deal.
Sioux Falls Skyforce acquire: Returning right to Brady Morningstar & 2014 3rd round pick (Chadrack Lufile)
Westchester Knicks acquire: Andre Barrett
Take: Knicks take this pretty easily. SFX didn’t need Barrett, but he was solid for WCK all season.
Grand Rapids Drive acquire: Returning rights to Daniel Orton & 2014 6th round pick (Jerell Sanders)
Maine Red Claws acquire: 2014 3rd round pick [via Austin] (Omari Johnson)
Take: Maine slaughtered GR in this deal. Orton came back from overseas and was who we thought he was (thanks, Dennis Green!) and Omari Johnson was the surprise of the season in Maine.
Bakersfield Jam acquire: Elijah Millsap, LAD 2014 6th round pick (Bill Clark selected) & LAD 2015 5th round pick
Los Angeles D-Fenders acquire: Returning rights to Dennis Horner, BAK 2014 2nd round pick (Naadir Tharpe), FWN 2014 2nd round pick (Quinton Doggett) & BAK 2015 2nd round pick
Take: The Jam absolutely fleeced LA in this deal. Millsap was a stud before being called-up by the Utah Jazz. WOW.
Los Angeles D-Fenders acquire: Vander Blue
Idaho Stampede acquire: FWN 2014 2nd round pick (Quinton Doggett)
Take: Turnabouts is fair game as LAD stole Blue from the Stampede, who ended up struggling to score all season long — maybe keep a talent like Blue when you have one!
Maine Red Claws acquire: Returning rights to Ralph Sampson III
Reno Bighorns acquire: 2014 4th round pick [via Erie] (Brian Oliver)
Take: Maine wins for the sheer fact that I have no idea who Oliver is! Ha.
Reno Bighorns acquire: Stefhon Hannah & 2014 1st round pick (Joonas Caven)
Westchester Knicks acquire: Darnell Jackson & 2014 6th round pick (Dwyane Mitchell)
Take: Knicks win! Knicks win! Phew, got caught up for a second. Seriously, though, Jackson was a beast.
November 1, 2014 — Draft Day
Maine Red Claws acquire: Ray Cowels & 2015 2nd round pick
Reno Bighorns acquire: David Stockton
Take: Maine moved Stockton because they already had eventual MVP Tim Frazier on the roster, so I get the move. Nevertheless, Stockton had a masterful season for Reno and ended up earning a long-term deal with the Sacramento Kings — Reno wins going away.
Bakersfield Jam acquire: Xavier Munford
Maine Red Claws acquire: John Petrucelli and returning rights to Jake O’Brien
Take: Two trades in a row that Maine loses. Returning rights are important in the D-League but O’Brien looks to be entrenched overseas, and Petrucelli didn’t have an impact. Munford had a solid season for the Jam and really blossomed in the playoffs when Joe Jackson got injured.
FIVE TEAM TRADE
Santa Cruz Warriors acquire: TEX 2014 1st round pick (Milos Milisavljevic), TEX 2014 4th round pick (Anthony Vereen), TEX 2014 6th round pick (Aaron Mollet) and returning rights to Marcus Hubbard
Texas Legends acquire: RGV 2014 1st round pick (Justin Jackson), SCW 2014 2nd round pick (Yuki Togashi), IWA 2014 4th round pick (Marcus Melvin) and Ish Smith
Iowa Energy acquire: TEX 2014 2nd round pick (Nick Barbour), SCW 2014 2nd round pick (Trayvonn Wright), RGV 2015 2nd round pick & returning rights to Hassan Whiteside
Delaware 87ers acquire: SCW 2014 1st round pick (Melvin Johnson III)
Rio Grande Valley Vipers acquire: IWA 2014 7th round pick (Brandon Provost) & Earl Clark
Take: Good lawd, that’s a huge trade! None of the big names played much in this one — Ish Smith was called up quick by OKC, Whiteside by the Heat and Clark headed overseas after rumors of signing with the Lakers fell through. I give the edge to Iowa because they have RGV’s 2015 2nd Rd Pick. The SCW, on the other hand, ended up with zilch in this deal. Goodness.
December 10, 2014
Iowa Energy acquire: 2015 1st round pick
Reno Bighorns acquire: Jordan Hamilton & 2015 2nd round pick (via RGV)
Take: Not only did Iowa give up Hamilton, but also a future 2nd round pick? The draft doesn’t have a crazy amount of talent, but come on. Hamilton was signed by the Clippers last year, but they waived him in early August. If he signs with the D-League, the Bighorns own his returning rights.
December 20, 2014
Fort Wayne Mad Ants acquire: Gary Talton Jr.
Rio Grande Valley Vipers acquire: 2015 1st round pick
Take: At the time of the move, Talton was averaging 14.4 points & 13.5 assists for the Vipers. Those numbers dipped to 12.5 points & 6.0 assists for the Mad Ants. Vipers strike again!
December 29, 2014
Fort Wayne Mad Ants acquire: Travis Hyman & 2015 6th round pick
Los Angeles D-Fenders acquire: Returning rights to Tim Ohlbrecht & 2015 3rd round pick
Take: Unless he makes one last run at an NBA deal, Ohlbrecht is gone for good; in which case, FWN gave up a 3rd rounder for a legit 7-footer in Hyman. The problem is he only played 17 minutes per game once he arrived. Ultimately, the Mad Ants took a bit of a gamble and it didn’t pay off.
December 30, 2014
Iowa Energy acquire: 2015 1st Rd Pick & 2015 2nd round pick
Los Angeles D-Fenders acquire: Jarvis Varnado & 2015 3rd round pick
Take: The D-Fenders thought last season was “make your team identity the opposite of your monicker” — they were horrible defensively. So maybe they added Varnado to remedy that…? The issue is Varnado played only eight games all season for L.A. and has now signed in Italy for the 2015-16 season. Hard to D-Fend this move!
January 12, 2015
Delaware 87ers acquire: Returning rights to Maalik Wayns
Rio Grande Valley Vipers acquire: Returning rights to Hamady N’diaye
Take: 87ers win in a landslide. Wayns came back and played well for them and even though Delaware had a rough year, at least they got some use out of Wayns before he signed overseas this offseason.
January 22, 2015
Reno Bighorns acquire: Melvin Johnson III
Delaware 87ers acquire: Joonas Caven
Take: The 87…oh, who am I kidding. Nobody cares about this trade!
Santa Cruz Warriors acquire: Ronald Roberts & returning rights to Darington Hobson
Delaware 87ers acquire: Sean Kilpatrick & 2015 1st round pick (via Erie)
Take: Kilpatrick had a resurgence after this move, averaging 16.1 points on nearly 48 percent shooting. Delaware got a 1st round pick to boot. However, Hobson was a vital cog in the Warriors run to the championship trophy and even though Roberts only played two games for them, they still hold his returning rights for the next two seasons. Throw in that the 1st round pick wasn’t even their own and I think the Warriors won this trade, but it’s close!
January 27, 2015
Westchester Knicks acquire: Reggie Hearn
Idaho Stampede acquire: 2015 4th round pick
Take: Hearn didn’t make an impact for the Knicks, but it’s not likely that the future pick Idaho acquired does either. Let’s just act like this never happened.
January 28, 2015
Reno Bighorns acquire: Returning rights to Ty Walker
Erie BayHawks acquire: Returning rights to Mickell Gladness
Take: Walker played 13 minutes per game for Reno, averaging 2.7 points and 3.1 rebounds. Gladness played in Australia during the 2014-15 season. You be the judge of this one.
January 30, 2015
Delaware 87ers acquire: Returning rights to Khalif Wyatt
Grand Rapids Drive acquire: Malcolm Lee
Take: Lee wasn’t great for GR, but Wyatt is a legitimate star in Europe and won’t be back in the D-League. Because the Drive basically got Lee for nothing, they win by default.
February 16, 2015
Austin Spurs acquire: Returning rights to Richard Howell
Westchester Knicks acquire: Trey Gilder
Take: The minor league Spurs tried to copycat their parent club and pull off an absolute heist here. I remember being super excited about Howell in Austin and then he put up 8.8 points and 4.9 rebounds. Things didn’t workout as planned. Austin still hold Howell’s rights, however — winner, winner chicken dinner. (I didn’t mention Gilder, but I guess that tells you what you need to know about the move on that front.)
February 20, 2015
Westchester Knicks acquire: Doron Lamb & 2015 6th round pick
Texas Legends acquire: Returning rights to Luke Harangody and Jeff Adrien, and 2015 2nd round pick (via Idaho)
Take: Lamb was a stud for the Knicks but that lasted about 40 days before he had a season-ending injury and was subsequently waived by the Knicks. Harangody and Adrien are longshots to return to the NBADL but they still have that 2nd Rd Pick in their back pocket for the upcoming season, so I give the edge to Texas.
February 26, 2015
Iowa Energy acquire: 2015 3rd round pick
Texas Legends acquire: Jarrid Famous
Take: Maybe the most lopsided trade of the season. Famous led the league in rebounding and ended up signing with the Dallas Mavericks after a strong showing in the Vegas Summer League. The next move let’s you know why Iowa made this trade.
Iowa Energy acquire: Willie Reed
Grand Rapids Drive acquire: Diante Garrett
Take: This is about as equal of a trade as you will see in the D-League. Garrett was a top tier guard and Reed was arguably the best prospect in the entire league. Both have gone to greener pastures — Reed signed with the Brooklyn Nets and Garrett is headed to the Israeli Winner League — but rights are still held if either make a return.
March 6, 2015
Reno Bighorns acquire: Coby Karl
Idaho Stampede acquire: Returning rights to Trent Lockett
Take: Reno wins! Explanation: They acquired Coby Karl!
Los Angeles D-Fenders acquire: Returning rights to Cleveland Melvin
Erie BayHawks acquire: Keith Appling
Take: BayHawks win this deal because Appling came over and played well enough to earn a contract with the Orlando Magic. Clearly, the Magic saw something in Appling and instructed their affiliate to get him in house.
March 7, 2015 — Trade Deadline
Reno Bighorns acquire: Christian Watford
Maine Red Claws acquire: Returning rights to DeQuan Jones
Take: There was excitement around Watford being added to Reno, but the results weren’t as advertised. He ended up playing 18 minutes per game for the non-playoff squad.
Delaware 87ers acquire: Joel Wright
Idaho Stampede acquire: Jared Cunningham
Take: Wright was quietly a solid forward for the Stampede, averaging 16.6 points and 6.9 boards per game, but that success didn’t translate in Delaware. He played 11 games with no starts. Cunningham played well enough for Idaho to earn a training camp deal from the Cleveland Cavaliers, so logically Idaho wins.
All transaction data via D-League Official Site